In this experiment I tested to see whether the hair of a Persian cat could exert more force in comparison to a human hair. I hypothesized that the Persian hair would exert more force, regardless of how long it would last. Previous research revealed almost no information on the force of human hair or its strength. Of course this probably varies slightly from one human to the next. This may have an effect on durability, but not necessarily initial force.
The breed of domestic cat I used was a Persian cat. As this cat was thoroughbred, it may or may not have had an effect on the force exerted as well as the strength. While the sire and queen of this cat were well bred show cats, this particular animal lacked certain traits of the parents required for an ideal Persian. This too may have had an effect on force and strength. More well bred specimens may have a different variety of hair that produces the typical fluffy coat of a Persian. This may be due to a lack of under hairs which were notoriously weak and flimsy and are of no use in the experiment.
Procedure
Two separate samples of hair were collected. One sample came from a human Homo sapiens sapiens and the other from a common house cat (longhair Persian breed) Felis silvestis catus. Each sample came from the same individual to insure continuity. The test was first performed on human hair. With the proper equipment set up (including the LoggerPro 3 program) a tied the human hair to a force gauge. I proceeded to pull on the strand of hair until it broke. The gauge recorded the force at a 50 samples per second for 30 seconds. This procedure was repeated 10 times, with the human hair rarely reaching more than one Newton of force.
The Persian cat hair was tested next. The specific hair chosen was from the cats overcoat, as its under hair strands were far too small and brittle for testing. the strand of hair was tied to the same gauge used for the human hair. I pulled on it until it broke and recorded that data at 50 samples per second for 30 seconds. The tests was repeated 10 times, with the initial force of the cat hair slightly higher than human hair. This data was presented in the form of line graphs that indeed show a difference between the force and durability of the cat and human hair.
Results
I recorded the maximum amount of force for each strand of hair, human and cat. This maximum force peaked at different times but this was not taken into consideration as it varied from hair to hair.
Human Head Hair
Persian Overcoat Hair
0.2589
0.6904
0.3606
0.5648
0.3426
0.8161
0.8631
0.9537
0.8033
1.0020
Graphs were taken, although one of these features data that was dropped in the T-test. The T-test revealed a p-value of 0.1072 which is not exactly statistically significant. The graphs still show that cat hair achieved a greater amount of force but broke more quickly.
Persian Cat Hair Human Hair
Conclusions
Based on my results, I cannnot determine a significant difference in the strength of human hair and cat hair.The cat hair was extremely difficult to tie to the force gauge given its slender size, so the experiment lacked efficient measuring. despite these challenges, the cat hair did yield the highest results as far as maximum force goes. The human hair was slightly lower, but it lasted much longer. I do believe that with more efficient testing, it would be clearer that cat hair is initially stronger than human hair.
Table of Contents
Hair Strength of Humans and Persian Cats
RoyIntroduction
In this experiment I tested to see whether the hair of a Persian cat could exert more force in comparison to a human hair. I hypothesized that the Persian hair would exert more force, regardless of how long it would last. Previous research revealed almost no information on the force of human hair or its strength. Of course this probably varies slightly from one human to the next. This may have an effect on durability, but not necessarily initial force.The breed of domestic cat I used was a Persian cat. As this cat was thoroughbred, it may or may not have had an effect on the force exerted as well as the strength. While the sire and queen of this cat were well bred show cats, this particular animal lacked certain traits of the parents required for an ideal Persian. This too may have had an effect on force and strength. More well bred specimens may have a different variety of hair that produces the typical fluffy coat of a Persian. This may be due to a lack of under hairs which were notoriously weak and flimsy and are of no use in the experiment.
Procedure
Two separate samples of hair were collected. One sample came from a human Homo sapiens sapiens and the other from a common house cat (longhair Persian breed) Felis silvestis catus. Each sample came from the same individual to insure continuity. The test was first performed on human hair. With the proper equipment set up (including the LoggerPro 3 program) a tied the human hair to a force gauge. I proceeded to pull on the strand of hair until it broke. The gauge recorded the force at a 50 samples per second for 30 seconds. This procedure was repeated 10 times, with the human hair rarely reaching more than one Newton of force.
The Persian cat hair was tested next. The specific hair chosen was from the cats overcoat, as its under hair strands were far too small and brittle for testing. the strand of hair was tied to the same gauge used for the human hair. I pulled on it until it broke and recorded that data at 50 samples per second for 30 seconds. The tests was repeated 10 times, with the initial force of the cat hair slightly higher than human hair. This data was presented in the form of line graphs that indeed show a difference between the force and durability of the cat and human hair.
Results
I recorded the maximum amount of force for each strand of hair, human and cat. This maximum force peaked at different times but this was not taken into consideration as it varied from hair to hair.Persian Cat Hair Human Hair
Conclusions
Based on my results, I cannnot determine a significant difference in the strength of human hair and cat hair.The cat hair was extremely difficult to tie to the force gauge given its slender size, so the experiment lacked efficient measuring. despite these challenges, the cat hair did yield the highest results as far as maximum force goes. The human hair was slightly lower, but it lasted much longer. I do believe that with more efficient testing, it would be clearer that cat hair is initially stronger than human hair.
References
This particular experiment comparing human hair with persian cat hair has apparently never been performed before.